IFRS 12 Disclosure of interests in other entities

Disclosure of interests in other entities

An interest in another entity refers to contractual and non-contractual involvement that exposes the reporting entity to variability of returns from the performance of the other entity. Consideration of the purpose and design of the other entity may help the reporting entity when assessing whether it has an interest in that entity and, therefore, whether it is required to provide the disclosures in  IFRS 12. That assessment shall include consideration of the risks that the other entity was designed to create and the risks the other entity was designed to pass on to the reporting entity and other parties.

A reporting entity is typically exposed to variability of returns from the performance of another entity

by holding instruments (such as equity or debt instruments issued by the other entity) or having another involvement that absorbs variability. For example, assume a structured entity holds a loan portfolio. The structured entity obtains a credit default swap from another entity (the reporting entity) to protect itself from the default of interest and principal payments on the loans. The reporting entity has involvement that exposes it to variability of returns from the performance of the structured entity because the credit default swap absorbs variability of returns of the structured entity.

Some instruments are designed to transfer risk from a reporting entity to another entity. Such instruments create variability of returns for the other entity but do not typically expose the reporting entity to variability of returns from the performance of the other entity. For example, assume a structured entity is established to provide investment opportunities for investors who wish to have exposure to entity Z’s credit risk (entity Z is unrelated to any party involved in the arrangement). The structured entity obtains funding by issuing to those investors notes that are linked to entity Z’s credit risk (credit-linked notes) and uses the proceeds to invest in a portfolio of risk-free financial assets. The structured entity obtains exposure to entity Z’s credit risk by entering into a credit default swap (CDS) with a swap counterparty. The CDS passes entity Z’s credit risk to the structured entity in return for a fee paid by the swap counterparty. The investors in the structured entity receive a higher return that reflects both the structured entity’s return from its asset portfolio and the CDS fee. The swap counterparty does not have involvement with the structured entity that exposes it to variability of returns from the performance of the structured entity because the CDS transfers variability to the structured entity, rather than absorbing variability of returns of the structured entity.